CinemaBlend
Like any long-awaited follow-up to a beloved comedy,
Coming 2 America boasts a fair number of appearances by some of the original filmâs funniest fan-favorite characters, many of them played, once again, by Eddie Murphy. However, more glaringly recognizable is the absence of actors such as Samuel L. Jackson and several others from 1988âs
Director Craig Brewerâs Amazon Prime original sequel introduces a slew of new characters, such as the long lost son of Eddie Murphy's King Akeem Joffer (played by Jermaine Fowler), his boisterous mother (Leslie Jones) and uncle (Tracy Morgan), and a heavily made-up Arsenio Hall as Baba. The sequel even relishes in some eye-opening cameos by Morgan Freeman, En Vogue, Salt-N-Pepa, and Gladys Knight (all in the same sequence, too). However, despite what these newcomers and surprise guests brought to the film, you have to wonder if they could have left some room for a few
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began.
WHAT WE THOUGHT:
The 1988 comedy
Coming to America was released a year before I was born, but even after watching it 30 years later, it was apparent why the movie has garnered such a cult following decades after its release.
Notable for its majority all-black cast and challenging people's perception of Africa,
Why didn’t Allison Dean return for Coming 2 America? Patrice fans react
Why didn’t Allison Dean return for Coming 2 America? Fans are sad to see she isn’t in the 2021 sequel, so let’s consider her absence.
Venturing back to Zamunda is sure to be a dream come true for many fans of Coming to America.
The 1988 John Landis classic is often regarded as one of Eddie’s Murphy’s finest outings, and generally considered one of the best comedies of the 1980s.
Fortunately, audiences have been invited back to bask amongst a wealth of familiar faces in Craig Brewer’s 2021 sequel, Coming 2 America.